Chicago Botanic Garden

Stroll through all 385 acres and 24 gardens of the Chicago Botanic Garden. You'll stroll through the Landscape Gardens, Fruit and Vegetable Garden, Heritage Garden, Waterfall Garden, Japanese Garden and the English Walled Garden. These specialty displays are just a few of the sights throughout the outdoor botanical oasis.

Chicago's Beaches

Chicago's Beaches offer 6 miles of public beaches with the perfect settings for playing, relaxing and soaking it all in. 28 miles of Chicago Lake Michigan shoreline are full of history and overflowing with skyline views.

Garfield Park Conservatory

Enjoy the Garfield Park Conservatory Outdoor Gardens year round in spring, autumn, or winter. Learn environmental responsibility and conservationism with one of their events, programs, tours or plant care advice.

Lambs Farm

Get some insight on how a farmer runs the show at Lambs Farm. The farm is a working facility that explains to guests just exactly how things operate on a farm. Take some time away from farm duties to play outdoors, enjoying mini-golf, riding the mini-train or carousel, and petting some furry friends at the petting zoo.

Lincoln Park Zoo

Take a stroll through a zoo that knows its animals. The Lincoln Park Zoo is one of the oldest in the country and houses more than 1,250 animals inside its unique exhibits and attractions. As you explore the zoo, you'll see zebras, big cats, polar bears, penguins, gorillas, reptiles, monkeys and more.

The Lincoln Park Zoo was founded in 1868, making it one of the oldest zoos in the United States. The zoo spans across 35-acres of Chicago's Lincoln Park. A unique feature of the Lincoln Park Zoo that really shows its age is a burr oak tree that dates back to 1830, three years before the city was founded.

The zoo houses nearly 1,250 animals, including big cats, polar bears, penguins, gorillas, reptiles, monkeys and many others featured in these exhibits:

Antelope & Zebra Area

Blum-Kovler Penguin & Seabird House

Helen V. Brach Primate House

Farm-in-the-Zoo, presented by John Deere

Kovler Lion House

Kovler Sea Lion Pool

McCormick Bird House

Hope B. McCormick Swan Pond

Robert R. McCormick Bear Habitat

Nature Boardwalk

Pritzker Family Children's Zoo

Regenstein African Journey

Regenstein Birds of Prey Exhibit

Regenstein Center for African Apes

Regenstein Small Mammal & Reptile House

The Children's Zoo and the Farm-in-the-Zoo exhibits offer hands on experiences for younger visitors. There's also an indoor play structure for kids to enjoy, and the Farm exhibit allows guests to pet animals like goats and feed the cows.

Millennium Park

Millennium Park is one of the premier destinations for fun in Chicago. Stroll through the 24-acre lake-front park for a gorgeous glimpse of public art or stop by one of the attractions residing in the park like the McCormick Tribune Ice Skating Rink, McDonald's Cycle Center and the Boeing Galleries.

Millennium Park occupies about 24-acres of Lake Michigan shoreline in Chicago's Grant Park. The park is the second most popular tourist destination in the city following only Navy Pier, attracting between three and four million visitors annually. Millennium Park serves as a prominent civic center and is known as the "front yard" of downtown Chicago. The neighborhood surrounding the park is one of the city's most, if not the most, coveted residential areas.

The area showcases public art and is where places like the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Cloud Gate, the Crown Fountain, the Laurie Garden, the McCormick Tribune Ice Skating Rink, the BP Pedestrian Bridge, Wrigley Square, the McDonald's Cycle Center, the Exelon Pavilions, the AT&T Plaza, the Boeing Galleries, the Chase Promenade, and the Nichols Bridgeway are located.

Montrose Avenue Beach

Soak up the sun on the shores of Lake Michigan. Montrose Avenue Beach is just one of the city-owned beaches where you can relax, kayak, fish, swim, enjoy water sports and more. Don't forget your puppy, because the Montrose Beach has two dog beaches.

Night Out in the Parks

Night Out in the Parks provides family-fun throughout the summer. With 1000+ free events like Movies in the Parks, live concerts, festivals, theatrical shows, and more throughout Chicago’s neighborhood parks.

Shedd Aquarium

Journey through the ocean without ever having to leave land at the Shedd Aquarium. The aquarium houses over 25,000 fish and animals within award-winning exhibits and attractions. Sea otters, beluga whales, sea turtles, penguins, sharks, octopi, and jellyfish are just a few of the inhabitants at the Shedd Aquarium.

The John G. Shedd Aquarium debuted in Chicago in 1930. At the time of its opening, the aquarium was the largest in the world and was the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater fish collection. The Shedd Aquarium was the most visited aquarium in the nation in 2005 and 2007, and is an essential part of Museum Campus along with the Adler Planetarium and the Field Museum of Natural History.

The aquarium welcomes over 2 million guests annually to view their extensive collection of over 1,500 species of fish, marine mammals, birds, snakes, amphibians and insects. In all, the Shedd Aquarium houses about 25,000 fish. The five permanent exhibits at the Shedd are Amazon Rising, Caribbean Reef, Waters of the World, the Oceanarium, and Wild Reef. The aquarium garnered the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' award for best exhibit in 1999 for Seahorse Symphony, in 2001 for Amazon Rising and in 2004 for Wild Reef.